Patient is an essential component of quality in health care. After understanding and awareness of the medical act is subject to the occurrence of errors, in recent decades, more attention has been paid to the processes related to the culture of patient safety, particularly in sensitive areas as perioperative care. Implementing measures of improvement begins with a self-assessment of safety climate which it represents the measurable component of the safety culture. Analysis can identify strengths and weaknesses that shape the way health care professionals think, act and focus their attention. Different instruments assess the climate, each one with strengths and limitations. In this reflection, the basics of perioperative and instruments commonly used for analysis are reviewed, while the situation of health care system in Colombia is approached.